Snow-removing board



April 29, 1969 YATES SNOW-REMOVING BOARD Sheefc Filed Aug. 16, 1965 F IG.

INVENTOR.

GEORGE H. YATES United States Patent Oflice 3,440,741 Patented Apr. 29, 1969 3,440,741 SNOW-REMOVING BOARD George H. Yates, 37 Hill St., Ellicott City, Md. 21043 Filed Aug. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 479,832

- Int. Cl. E01h /02 US. CI. 37-53 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A push-type material removing device is disclosed which comprises an elongated thin rectangular sheet. It includes a tip in the form of a full width metal shoe bent acutely to provide a sharp linear edge. The underlying portion forms a sole on which the device rests and is manipulated. Various degrees and modes of rigidity are given the sheet through arrangements in continuations of the handles and through supplementary reinforcement strips in several configurations.

This invention relates generally to push removers, and more particularly it pertains to a snow-removing board.

The snow-removing board of this invention is intended mainly for the use of elderly persons or those who are not able to do much lifting as required by the customary snow shovel.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a light weight push type snow removal board which is strong and effective with novel reinforcing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a scraper edge for a push type snow removal board which is effective for crust and ice conditions, is load supporting and can be manipulated easily over obstructions such as side-walk cracks.

Other objects and attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent and understood from the following detailed specification and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the novel snow removal board of this invention showing the top face;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing a reinforcing-handle arrangement on the bottom face;

FIG. 3 is a plan View of the bottom face; and

FIGS. 4 to 9 inclusive, depict various reinforcing and handle arrangements for the snow removal board.

Referring now to the details of the invention as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, reference numeral 10 indicates generally a snow removal board.

This board 10 has a rectangular sheet 12 of light weight plywood plastic composition board or metal which is cut deeply at one end to form a body clearance notch 14. A pair of divergent handles 16 extend on this end from under the bottom face and are a continuation of reinforcing strips 18 which are fastened to the sheet 12. These strips 18 are both notched at the cross-over point to form an overlap as best shown in FIG. 2. In this manner they are substantially in full contact with the sheet 12 over their entire length.

The end of the board 10 remote from the handles is armored on top with a folded metal shoe 20 of relatively strong construction having a sharp linear edge 22 which extends the full width of the sheet 12. The shoe 20 extends with an acute angle from this sharp edge beneath the board 10 for a short distance to form a sole 24. If desired a gusset 26 may be welded to the sides of the shoe 20 to strengthen it and to protect the lower edges of the sheet 12.

FIG. 6 illustrates a snow removal board 30 similar to that described above but having parallel handles 32 extending along the edges of the sheet 12. The overlapped reinforcing strips 34 are X-shaped in assembly and separate from the handles 32. Such design is suitable for wider boards having greater capacity of load. With some sacrifice of tortional stability, the reinforcing strips may be an inverted V-shape assembly as shown in FIG. 4, reference numeral 44, for the board 40.

An H reinforcement is shown at numeral 54 for the board 50 of FIG. 7, an O-shaped reinforcement 64 for the board 60 of FIG. 8 and an inverted U, reference 74, for the board in FIG. 9. These have various characteristics of stilf ness concentrating at different points in the device. For example boards 50 and 60 have a somewhat flexible lower end which helps the shoe 20 to jump over rough surfaces.

The board shown in FIG. 5 has but one handle 32 and is suitable for short boards. The handle 32 plus the transverse strip 84 form a T shaped reinforcement.

The snow boards of this invention have the important characteristic of permitting the edge 22 to be raised over an obstruction by lowering the handles so the sole 24 is tilted back.

Normally the board is operated with the sole parallel to the ground or at a slight forward tilt. It is not necessary to lift the snow removal board in disposing of the snow. A small tilt to the right or left will dump the snow with small effort.

It will be apparent the board of this invention has other other uses besides handling of snow. For example, concrete may be readily distributed over an area or sand or dirt piled up or moved.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device for removing snow from a surface without lifting, including a flat rectangular sheet element having a sharp bottom edge for dislodging snow from said surface, whereby when said sheet element is tilted during said dislodging the dislodged snow piled up on said sheet element, and handle means mounted to said sheet element for straightening it up, thereby dumping the snow piled up thereon, the improvement comprising: a pair of crossed handles mounted beneath the sheet diagonally from bottom to top, the said handles divergently extending from the top corners of the sheet; and the sheet having a notch between the said handle extensions whereby the said notch and divergent extensions comprise an accommodating body-clearance in the snow remover for a user thereof.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the said divergent extension from the top of said sheet spaces the handle extensions apart a distance substantially greater than the width of the sheet, thereby providing improved mechanical advantage for tilting the snow remover to right or left for dumping snow.

3. The device of claim 2, and additionally shoe means mounted along the bottom edge of said sheet element to define said sharp bottom edge, said shoe means including a portion extending free of other structure rearwardly from the sharp bottom edge at an angle corresponding to the tilt of said sheet element during said dislodging, and having an edge on the rearward extension parallel to said sharp bottom edge.

3 4. The device of claim 3, wherein said shoe means in- 1,176,112 cludes a gusset between said rearwardly extending portion 1,519,718 and said sharp bottom edge. 1,779,090 2,720,043

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Volkstadt 294-54 Blair 37-53 Fick 37-53 Chamberlin 37-53 5 ANTONIO F. GUIDA, Primary Examiner.

ALAN E. KOPECKI, Assistant Examiner. 

